Those of you that have been reading for a while know that I am a prepper at heart. It is God's joke that I am still in a hermetically sealed townhome, but I do laugh along with him. Today I am home sick, knocked down by a respiratory virus took hold of me and wouldn't let go. At various times casual like minded folks ask me (rather covertly as if we are an underground group of sorts)..."Hey Christine...um...you still prep?"
Now some folks look at me differently, they wonder if I've got a tank buried in the yard, a panic room with an arsenal...I'll never tell ;) But I do have what I call my preps (i.e. oversized 'pantry') and I do enjoy a certain preparedness in my life. This has trickled down to my boys who will happily tell you, in a grid down situation mom will be just fine!
We have been referring to this winter as 'The Endless Winter', the snow keeps coming, the ice threatens everyone, the stores run out of bread quickly, and folks are edgy. Much like having a small emergency savings account to pull from if necessary, I've found it equally important to have a dry goods larder for the same reason. It has morphed into something a bit different this year for sure. Last November, I left a job to be more of a parental presence to two teenage boys (they are very good, but mom needed to be 'around' even if ignored to some degree.) Believe me when I tell you there is no logical reason that the $ area of my life is working but it is. I only took into account not spending $160/month on gas. I kind of overlooked NOT being on the road for 2-3 hours a day, being able to cook real food as opposed to the 'I'm exhausted we are getting pizza to the tune of $30' here and there, I also overlooked being rested enough to have the where with all to plan meals instead of dealing with the stress of lunch being a catastrophic emergency resulting in a $10-$20 expense.
The bills are paid, even though I am making less in hours. Proof positive that the savings is more than just on gas. My very good friend Cheryl said her father does sales and the company doesn't tally gas $ only, they tally that every mile/hour behind the wheel = a dollar amount. He told her 'Crisy is saving around $500/month NOT commuting.' I don't really understand that concept, but it must be true to some extent. I would also like to add here that with that commute comes things you will NEVER be paid for but YOU WILL pay for in massive stress. The snow kept falling, and falling, and falling. Every morning it did, I thanked my lucky stars I didn't have to get in that car and jeopardize myself and my ride. A days pay would no way cover any of that. I have 3 friends who smacked their cars up real good commuting this winter. I work in an office that closes when it's unsafe. Now because I work in town, and not for a huge company, I do not get paid for the days we are closed...but remember the emergency savings? It takes time, it takes discipline but hot damn -dare I say it?-I feel like a grown up!
With that said I would like to explain that the same mentality goes for the 'dry larder' (this may be an oxymoron but so be it, it's what I call it). This winter saw some family illness (see previous blog when I refer to the Trifecta) and enough Winter Weather Watch to disrupt normal errand running, food shopping etc. Because it was so cold and I am at the mercy of an energy company that rapes and pillages, our bills have been higher...much higher. All this does is fuel my ass to settle up certain debts and reduce everywhere I can. The most flexible place to cut a household is the food budget. But how could I possibly do that with two teenage boys that literally text me from school at 10AM asking whats for dinner? Let me tell you my pretties...
I started out a few years ago taking an extra $ to the store with me every week. Now I know people will freak - 'I don't have an extra $10!' Maybe you don't...but I'm sure you could find $5.00 or even $2.00 more a week (think doing the laundry, loose change etc). The store by us sells Mac&Cheese 5 boxes for $2.00! Jar Pasta Sauce goes to $00.88. I've seen canned Veggies as low as $00.40 - with an extra $5.00 you could grab 5 boxes of mac&cheese, 2 Jar Pasta Sauces, and 3 cans of veggies...Your dry larder stock is born!
I usually figure around $20 a week these days. Some weeks this will go to a single item (toilet paper) but then I don't have to buy that for a month. Sometimes I skip a week so the following week I will have $40 to spend - that time I purchased 20 bottles of my laundry detergent at $1.99/each. I have rice, oats, cereals, peanut butter, canned goods etc. Now my larder resembles a tiny store. With the weather the way it's been, I've literally been shopping at home. When the bills come in and they are outrageous, I go to the larder and maybe that week I will just buy perishables (milk, eggs, fruit,etc) and shore up the cash to keep the heat on. This year I can count about 3 weeks I've done this intermittently and i figure it has saved me some serious cash. (BONUS!!! Incidentally, end of last year I nabbed 20lbs of salt (individual 1lb canisters) @$00.33 cents each (Aldi's, LOVE ALDI'S!) Now I'm in the Endless Winter and there isn't salt anywhere to be had, but our little walkway has been lovingly sprinkled in the AM for the last 3 days...so we don't break our collective arses...
I do freeze some things - Butter (on sale), Bread freezes nicely, and quite by accident lunch cheese got put away in the freezer...when it thawed it was fine! Guess what I'll be doing when cheese goes on sale? It's a good and strange kind of feeling when you can shop from your own larder. You don't worry so much about waiting out the storms, or redistributing your cash...you just use your cache! When you start practicing this it carries over into other areas of your life as well. And sometimes you will be in a position to help someone out - as a single mom a jar of peanut butter, jelly, and a loaf of bread can save the day. I do buy other things like spices, water flavorings, and creature comforts...just in case..I guess I'll always be a grid down girl....hey you never know!
Grab your extra change and start a small dry larder of your own, you'll be glad you did...most likely when you least expect it
Namaste
